He turned back to Nigel, once again in control. “Nigel, I’m convinced that in a fair fight, with no treachery involved, Kelson could defeat Charissa once and for all—but only if he has Brion’s power. I’ve got to have time for that, though. Does Jehana really know what’s at stake, what will happen to Kelson if he has to face Charissa without that power? You were next in line—you still are. You know what I’m talking about.”

“If she knows, she won’t admit it.” Nigel sighed. “If you think it would help, though, I could try to talk to her again. I might gain us some time, at least.”

“All right.” Morgan nodded. “And if you can’t reason with her, try a little coercion.”

“I’ll do what I can.” Nigel nodded gloomily. “She’d better start acting like a grown woman with some sense, though. I’ll see you later.”

“I hope so,” Morgan agreed, almost to himself, as the duke disappeared around a bend in the path.

Morgan smiled wryly as he perched on the summerhouse rail to wait for Kelson. Personally, he had little faith in anyone’s ability to placate or coerce Brion’s wayward queen, least of all Nigel, who had always been an open supporter of the out-of-favor general.

On the other hand, Nigel was the queen’s brother-in-law, and that might count for something. Who knew? After all, in a world where gods rose from the dead and quasi-mortals summoned the very forces of Good and Evil at will, he supposed anything was at least theoretically possible.

He had never really understood Jehana’s opposition, though. It was based, he knew, on that ancient and ingrained suspicion of Deryni magic. And this had been reinforced through the generations by the Church Militant’s condemnation of all occult arts. But surely there was more to it than that.

Certainly, there had been cause for suspicion of things Deryni at one time. Morgan was first to admit it. But it had been almost three hundred years since the beginning of the Deryni Interregnum. And while the Eleven Kingdoms had been under heavy Deryni dictatorship for nearly three generations, those days had been past now for nearly two centuries.

Even at the height of Deryni rule, there had been only a handful involved in the darker atrocities. And in the balance were the thousands of Deryni who had cherished their human ties—some of whom, led by Camber of Culdi, eventually discovered that, under carefully specified conditions in certain select individuals, the full scope of Deryni power could be acquired by humans!

There had been another coup, led by Camber and his kin, and the Deryni Interregnum was ended as quickly as it had started. The tyrant leaders were executed by their own fellows, and rule was restored to the descendants of the old human lords.